An unarmed Parkland school campus monitor who spotted Nikolas Cruz moments before the mass shooting told investigators he knew the teenager posed a threat and that he tried to follow him but couldn’t catch up.
Andrew Medina, 39, was in a golf cart at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School when he spotted Cruz getting out an Uber with a big black bag and backpack just moments before the deadly shooting unfolded on February 14.
In an interview with Broward County detectives on the day of the shooting, Medina admitted that the school knew the 19-year-old was a risk.
The State Attorney’s Office released video and a transcript on Tuesday of the 25-minute interview.
‘Nikolas Cruz. I knew the kid,’ he told detectives.
Unarmed Parkland school campus monitor Andrew Medina spoke to Broward County detectives on the day of the mass shooting saying he knew Nikolas Cruz was a threat
‘We had a meeting about him last year and we said if there’s gonna be anybody whose gonna come to this school and shoot this school up, it’s going to be that kid.
‘He had problems with everybody, like all of the security people. He was one of those kids who…was rebellious, you know… he had 666 on his book bag. He had the swastika. He had all that crazy stuff.
Nikolas Cruz is charged with 17 counts of first-degree murder in the February 14 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
‘All the signs were there, so they got rid of him.’
Medina, a baseball coach and unarmed campus monitor, had been riding around the campus unlocking gates about 20 minutes before dismissal when he saw Cruz arrive and head towards one of the buildings.
He said when he realized Cruz was ‘on a mission’, he radioed the campus monitor of the building where the teen was headed. Medina said he also texted other security guards to alert them as he tried to tail Cruz in his golf cart.
‘He’s beelining. He’s got his head down. He’s on a mission,’ Medina said.
‘He sees my golf cart and he runs. He starts running to the building, inside the building.’
Medina said he began hearing shots from inside less than a minute later.
‘I’m getting out,’ Medina said. ‘And then I hear, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.’
The State Attorney’s Office released video and a transcript on Tuesday of the 25-minute interview as part of their criminal investigation into Cruz
Medina told detectives he tried to follow Cruz as he ran towards the school building but was unable to catch up and moments later heard loud bangs. Students are pictured above being evacuated from the school after the shooting
Medina said he didn’t immediately report an emergency code because he hadn’t seen a gun and didn’t want to needlessly bring a SWAT response.
Instead, Medina picked up the only armed school resource officer, Scot Peterson, in his golf cart and drove back over to the building.
‘I heard 15 bangs,’ Medina said. ‘And it was loud. Like, you could kind of feel the percussion coming out of that building, the echo coming out of the door of the building… It was kind of surreal.’
Medina recalled Peterson saying there was a shooter on campus but said the armed resource officer told him to leave and head back to the front of the school.
Peterson has been widely criticized for his lack of action.
He resigned and retired from the Broward Sheriff’s Office eight days after the shooting when video surveillance footage showed him standing outside the building during the rampage.
Medina’s filmed statement was released as part of the criminal investigation into Cruz. The teen is charged with 17 counts of first-degree murder in the attack.
Lawyers have said he would plead guilty in exchange for a life prison sentence, but prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty.
Medina picked up the only armed school resource officer, Scot Peterson, in his golf cart and drove back over to the building. Medina said Peterson told him to leave and head back to the front of the school. Peterson (above) has been widely criticized for his lack of action